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OBASANJO’S LOADED PISTOLS

• Day Nigerian Head of State put pistols on the table for freedom fighters to shoot each other

Two-time Nigeria’s head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo spoke on his letters and one of his unique solutions that helped lead to independence for Zimbabwe, writes Akani Alaka.

Last Thursday’s unveiling of  “The Letterman”— a book on Obasanjo’s ‘secret’ letters written by investigative journalist and Editor-in-chief of  PREMIUM TIMES, Musikilu Mojeed turned out to be an excursion into events in Nigeria’s history as well as her contributions to the emancipation of the African continent from colonial rule and dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.
Of course, Obasanjo, whose letters formed the subject of the 492-page narrative nonfiction, was at the centre of it all.

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Though the book was about his letters,  Obasanjo did not give any indication that he would attend the unveiling despite being invited as the author of the book confirmed.
But the former President had stormed the Abuja venue of the event midway into the programme on his way back from Ethiopia.
When he was eventually handed the microphone, Obasanjo who was Nigeria’s military head of state between 1976 and 1979 and civilian president between 1999 and 2007 restated his belief in letters as a form of communication.

Loaded Pistols

But he revealed that aside from the letters, he is also a man that provides ‘unique solutions to issues,’ as once done when he was fed up with the late Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo using resources provided for them by Nigeria to fight each other instead of using it to fight the government of then minority white regime led by Prime Minister Ian Smith.

Mugabe and Nkomo were leading different groups engaged in the liberation struggle in Rhodesia, which was renamed Zimbabwe at independence in 1980.

Obasanjo said, “You will find that not only do I write letters, in some cases, I also proffer solutions in terms of what to do. Some solutions are practical, some are a little bit unique. Like the solution I proffered for Nkomo and Mugabe.

“We were giving them money, we were giving them weapons, we were giving them ammunition and suddenly, they turn these things against themselves. So, I will ask Nkomo to come and see me and Mugabe will not come, when Mugabe came, Nkomo will not come and one day, both of them came together.
“And I thought that was the day we would resolve the issues together. So, I got two pistols loaded and I invited them to my office and they sat on comfortable chairs.

“And I said to them, we are not here for ideological warfare. We are giving you weapons, we are giving you money; you started turning them against yourselves. Now I want you to have a duel, here are pistols, they are loaded’ (I made sure that they know that they are loaded) and I will give you one each and I will say go, whoever dies will be buried here and whoever survives will be sent back to go and finish the war.
“Nkomo said, what? You are a man offering a unique solution to a unique problem. I said Yes. They left me and formed Patriotic Front.”

The Patriotic Front, a fusion of ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People’s Union) and ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) led by Nkomo and Mugabe respectively later won the election and Zimbabwe achieved independence on April 18, 1980.

Declining International Status

While recalling the role played by Nigeria in the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa as exemplified in letters he wrote to former British leader, Margaret Thatcher,  Obasanjo lamented that the country is no longer effectively exercising its might in the international community.
The former president lamented that while the opinion of Nigeria was always sought before any decision about Africa was taken in the 70s and 80s, issues related to the continent are now taken outside for settlement. He was particularly aghast that even issues related to Nigeria’s neighbouring countries are now taken outside the continent for settlement.

“Only this morning, I heard something that shocked me. When Idris Deby was shot in the back, and it was Doha (Qatar) that decided to put the different elements together, not Nigeria, and Chad is in our backyard, we did not do anything about it,” he said.

Nothing Personal

Speaking further on his letters, Obasanjo said though they tend to ruffle the feathers of those in power at times, there is nothing personal to him about them.  Rather, the letters reflect the “interest of the community, the society, the organisation that I belong to, the military, warfront—how should the war be fought so that we minimize casualty so that we can deal with it and finish it off,” he said.

He added that letter writing is also an art. “You must be very careful in the choice of your words. It depends on what you want to put into it. Your letter must be such that it is relevant and purposeful.
“Almost all of the letters stand the test of time. Whether it is the letter on apartheid in South Africa or Ian Smith in Rhodesia. Or between (Joshua) Nkomo and (Robert) Mugabe. These letters stand the test of time.

“Then when I read some of the letters in the book as put by Musikilu, I said to myself—some of you have said what gives me courage? I then look at this book, if you had asked me to give a title, and not the title ‘Letterman’, I would have titled it “Audacity of an Optimist,” said the former president who added that the author of the book did not take his permission to write it.

“I found the book really really amazing. I have finished reading it and I will ask you to try reading it. There are many things I have forgotten. When I read some of the letters, I marvelled,” Obasanjo said, noting that he believed in letter writing and did not have a substitute for it to communicate effectively.

Uncommon Bravery

While reviewing the book, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah said Obasanjo displayed unusual bravery in some of the letters, especially those he wrote during the civil war.

He wondered how Obasanjo was able to get away with such audacity in the highly regimented military.
He cited the example of a letter written by Obasanjo as a Colonel during the civil war to Brigadier Eyo Ekpo, his superior in which he complained about the latter enrolling to study Law.

“There is evidence that Obasanjo was clear in his mind on what needs to be done during the war. How did Obasanjo get away with the bravado even in the military?” Kukah stated.

The cleric who said the book is fascinating to read added that the book reveals the vast knowledge of the former president across different sectors.

“Obasanjo is assured of a place in the history of Nigeria and the world. We can agree that they do not make them like this anymore. We thank Mojeed for serving us such a delicious meal,” the cleric concluded.
The author of the book said his perception of the former president changed after reading the letters.
“Reading his letters, both the ones I did not include in the book and the ones I included, I realized there was much more about Baba,” he said.

According to him, the letters revealed the influence of Nigeria in the international community as well as the quality of leadership that Nigeria once had.

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